Bribes, Whales, Cash and Prostitutes.

So, here we are again ….it’s Monday…. and it is a cold and rainy one to boot!

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The only good thing about Mondays is that they hopefully come after a cracking weekend, so if they don’t then you only have yourself to blame.

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My own weekend was very very quiet, but we have been very tired after being away so long.

It has been good to sleep in our own firm bed, and happily, we are now mostly free from the aches and pains caused by the holiday bed from hell.

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I wonder how many of you are walking around thinking that you have chronic bad backs, when all you need is a decent new mattress and a supportive bed to put it on.

There is no point in being miserly with money when it should be willingly spent on the place that you spend so much of your life lying on….and hopefully making love upon.

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Now on to something shocking.

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As you probably know, I feel very strongly about whaling and the subsequent decimation and possible extinction of these wonderful creatures.

I read in the Sunday Times that Japan has been bribing small nations, to use their support to push through Japan’s wish to resume legal whaling for as long as there are any whales left.

There have been undercover investigations going on and the reporters, who pretended to be the representatives of a conservationist billionaire, made approaches to the officials from pro-whaling countries and offered them bribes to change their vote.

When the governments of St Kitts and Nevis, Kiribati, Grenada, the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Guinea etc. were approached in this way , they all began negotiations to sell their vote in return for aid packages.

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At the moment Japan is trying to end the 24 year moratorium on commercial whaling.

There is an International Whaling Committee meeting beginning soon in Morocco which will decide what is to happen to the whales.

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Although Japan denies allegations that it is buying the votes of IWC members , the Sunday Times has filmed representatives from pro-whaling governments admitting that this is happening.

They said that they were voting with Japan because they had been promised large amounts of aid by the Japanese.

They also admitted that Japanese officials, at IWC meetings, had given them envelopes containing cash payments and that their travel and hotel bills were paid by Japan.

It was even revealed that when various civil servants and fisheries ministers visited Japan for meetings, they were coerced by being offered the services of prostitutes..

The highest fisheries official for Guinea said that when their minister made visits to Japan he was routinely given at least $1,000 per day cash spending money during IWC and other fisheries meetings.

It was also revealed that payments to Guinea were made through three Japanese organisations

The Overseas Fisheries Co-operation Foundation

The Fisheries Agency

The Aid Agency.

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Little countries on the IWC have been bribed to support the Japanese efforts to finally break the moratorium.

For instance, senior officials for the Marshall Islands admitted that they supported Japan’s wishes because of what they had been given by that country.

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Other small countries said that they had sold their votes to Japan for cash, aid, cars and prostitutes etc.

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This is all a total disgrace.

It is disgusting that Japan behaves this way.

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If you wish to read the full and disgusting story in The Sunday Times, then please hit on this link.